Railroad-track truss rod



w. w. STEPHENS RAILROAD TRACK IRUSS ROD Oct." 20, 1925- Filed Jan'. 15, 1924 INVENTOR. M M 576p}. 67v

Patented @et. 20, 1925..

Uhll'lED STATES RAILB0J?1DTRACK TRUS'S ROD.

Application filed January 15, 1924-.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, WILLIS it. lidiEPl-IENS, citizen of the United States, residing at Glencoe, in the county of Payne and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Track Truss Rods, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to truss rods, and has tor its object to provide means for clamping two railroad rails in fixed relation when placed on railroad ties, on a road bed, in clamps of said truss rod in a manner whereby the rails will remain in lixed position relatively to each other. it has been found that a great many accidents occurring on railroad tracks to trains in transit, are occasioned by the preading of rails, and to eliminate this danger and maintain the rails in lined position, is the main object or the invention.

A. further object is to provide a metal truss rod provided with clamps at the outer extremities thereof, said clamps being clamped on the under side ot' the rails and drawn towards each other and held in proper relation by adjustable threaded members and a turn buckle.

A further object is to provide a practical means for maintaining the railroad rails in proper relation at a moderate cost, which is easily and quickly applied to the rails, easily removed from worn rails and applied to other rails.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in the combination and arrangement or parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawing, described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a top plan view of the truss rod showing the adjustable members.

Figure 2 is an end view of adjacent rails showing the device applied thereto.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the clamping members.

Figure 4. is a perspective view of the stationary part of one of the clamping members.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates adjacent rails of a railway, and 2 the bases of said rails, which bases are Serial N0. 6556,2923.

provided with conventional forms oit' flanges 3 adapted to rest on cross ties in the usuai manner. lit has been found that a great many accidents are caused i cidcnt to the spreading or the rails, and to obviate this diliiculty by maintaining the rails in proper relation to each other against displacement, the truss bar 4 is provided. The truss bar 4t comprises threaded shafts 5, the inner adjacent ends oi which are provided witn threaded reduced portions 6, which reduced portions are connected together by means oi a turn buckle 7, whereby the shafts 5 may be moved towards or away from each other for adjusting the rails l in proper parallel relation. The outer ends or the threaded shafts 5 terminate in that arms 8, which arms engage the under side of the bases 2 of the rails and terminate in upwardly and inwardly extending integral portions 8, which hook over the outer sides of the outer flanges 3 ot the rails 1, thereby positively holding the rails against spreading in relation to each other.

Slidably mounted on the flat portions 8 are clamping members 10, which clamping members are provided with flanges 11, which extend over the opposite edges of the flat portions 8, and with outwardly extending integral arms 12, which engage the in ner flanges 3 of the bases of the rails, and in combination with the arms 9, securely hold the rails and clamp the bases to the ends of the device. The inner ends of the slidable members 10 are provided with integral split sleeves 13, which split sleeves are mounted on the threaded shafts 5 and are engaged by nuts 14: threaded on the shafts 5, which nuts when threaded outwardly engage the split sleeve 13 and force the members 12 outwardly to clamping position. It will be seen that the truss rod may be easily and quickly attached to adjacentrails and will receive rails of different widths. It will also be seen that the truss rod may be easily removed when it is desired to replace a worn rail, and the slidable member 10 is formed from a single piece of metal, bent to form the flanges 11, clamping arm 12 and split sleeve 13, thereby obviating machine work, and reducing the cost of construction to a minimum.

From the above it will be seen that a truss rod is provided for tying together rails of a railway, and the rod is simple in construction, the parts reduced to a minimum, thereby allowing the device to be cheaply constructed.

The invention having been set forth What is claimed as neW and useful is 1. The combination with the bases of adjscent rails, 01 a truss rod connecting said bases together, said truss rod comprising threaded shafts a turn buckle connecting the inner ends of the threaded shafts together the outer ends 0 terminating fla ens the under sides 0; 1e I outer ends of the flutter. portions b provided with integral xtent zu'ius forming base clumping jaws, :2. s' able sleeve mounted on the flattened g tion of each threaded shnit. said *f'lzittel d being 1: ovited with inte' coopei'sting 'ith the inner si the bas s oi the rails, said sleeves having their inner ZJlr jecent ends provided with. split sleeves slidllllfy' mounted on the threaded shafts and ets threaded on the shei ts and cooperating with the split sleeves.

2. A truss rod for connecting adjacent nail bases together. said con'iprising int n'iei'nbers engaging; the under sides of the bases. the inner ends of the tint portions having sleeves slidablv mounted thereon.

clamping jaws carried by the fiat portions and the sleeves for holding the bases of the rails, split sleeves carried by the inner ends of the slidzible sleeves said fist portions having their inner ends provided with integral threaded shafts, nuts on said threaded shafts and engaging the split sleeves. the in ner ends of the threaded shafts ter diluting in. reduced threaded portions and 2t turn buckle connecting the reduced threaded portions of the shafts.

The eoini'iinetion with truss rod connecting the bases of adjacent rails, of clamps carried by the ends oi said truss rod/said clamps comprising {let hers engaging the under sides or" the bases of the rails, integrel clzunping jaws carried by said flat bars, clamping jaw slidnbly mounted on each flat bar, said last named clamping jaws being each formed from a flat ineinher engaging the fi st bar, integral flanges carr ed 33 sid flat member and ene'ae'in over the i. O b

sleeve for forcing the clamping member as a whole outwardly.

In testimony whereof I affix my slgnature.

VILLIS W. STEPHENS. 

